Comprehension:
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:-
It is twilight. A thick wet snow is slowly twirling around the newly lighted street lamps and lying in soft thin layers on roofs, on horses’ backs, on people’s shoulders and hats. The cab driver, Iona Potapov, is quite white and looks like a phantom: he is bent double as far as a human body can bend double; he is seated on his box; he never makes a move. If a whole snowdrift fell on him, it seems as if he would not find it necessary to shake it off. His little horse is also quite white, and remains motionless; its immobility, its angularity and its straight wooden-looking legs, even close by, give it the appearance of a gingerbread horse worth a kopek. It is , no doubt, plunged in deep thought. If you were snatched from the plough, from your usual gray surroundings, and were thrown into this slough full of monstrous lights, unceasing noise and hurrying people, you too would find it difficult not to think.
Iona and his little horse have not moved from their place for a long while. They left their yard before dinner and, up to now, not a fare. The evening mist is descending over the town, the white lights of the lamps are replacing brighter rays, and the hubbub of the street is getting louder. ‘Cabby for Viborg Way!’ suddenly hears Iona. ‘Cabby!’
Iona jumps and, through his snow-covered eyelashes, sees an officer in a greatcoat, with his hood over his head. ‘Viborg Way!’ the officer repeats. ‘Are you asleep, eh? Viborg Way!’
With a nod of assent Iona picks up the reins , in consequence of which layers of snow slip off the horse’s back and neck. The officer seats himself in the sleigh, the cabdriver smacks his lips to encourage his horse, stretches out his neck like a swan, sits up and, more from habit than necessity, brandishes his whip.
Select the synonym of the word phantom.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → ghost
- Phantom means a ghost; a pale, unreal figure. White with snow and motionless, Iona looks like a phantom.
Example: The old fort is said to be haunted by a phantom. - Ghost means the spirit of a dead person that appears to the living. It has the same meaning, so it is the synonym of phantom.
Example: The children told ghost stories around the fire.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: a comic character — Incorrect. A comic character is a funny figure in a story or cartoon; it has nothing in common with a phantom.
Example: Mr Bean is a famous comic character.
Option 3: dwarf — Incorrect. A dwarf is a very small person or, in fairy tales, a small human-like creature; it is a living being, not a spirit.
Example: Snow White lived with seven dwarfs in the forest.
Option 4: goblin — Incorrect. A goblin is a small, ugly, mischievous creature in folk tales; it is not the spirit of a dead person.
Example: In the story, a goblin stole the miller's gold.